Nothing will be easy for the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon.

It doesn’t matter what the weather is like, what the story lines are or what history may or may not say. The Patriots are going to have their hands full against a high-powered Denver Broncos offense at Gillette Stadium.

That being said, there’s certainly a blueprint for stopping Peyton Manning and the Broncos.

Former Patriots linebacker Matt Chatham knows a thing or two about slowing down a Manning-led offense. On his website FootballByFootball.com, Chatham laid out the steps the Patriots must follow in order to bottle up the Broncos. One of the most important things is for the Patriots to play tough.

“They might call penalties. Screw it. Force them to call another one. The Belichick DNA in me made that hard to type,” he wrote. “I’m not advocating dumb play. There will come a point where you might not be able to play chicken any longer. Just play in a manner that lives on the edge and understands the context in which this game takes place.”